Felled

by RazgrizS57

Chapter III

The first few nights were uneventful. What few Equestrian townships I stumbled upon, I made certain to avoid. Even though I only moved in the cover of night, being noticed out here was a risk I didn’t want to take. I’m sure anypony would mistake for me some wayward pegasus anyways, but I took all the precautions I could. I stuck to the forests whenever possible, flying a hoof’s reach above the treetops. Across open ground, I just about hugged the surface as well. I was set on nothing distracting me from my mission.

When dawn inevitably came, I made sure to find a tree to make myself comfortable in. Somewhere deep within a forest, out of sight from any potential passersby. On the third night, just as I was beginning to settle into the branches of a great oak, I noticed a thunderstorm roll in across my intended path. I hoped it would clear up by the time I awoke, and that it would keep its distance. My clothing was meant to keep me unnoticed and keep me warm, but I doubted it would keep me dry.

When I did wake up it was to the crack of lightning. I shifted atop my branch and glanced up through the canopy; it was dark. It took me a second to realize that wasn’t because the sun had set, but because those were storm clouds blotting out the sky. I didn’t know how much rest I actually got, but a yawn suggested I didn’t get enough. Nonetheless, I had to get moving.

It hadn’t started raining yet, at least. I crawled my way up the web of branches until I could bring myself above the canopy for a clearer view. As if on cue, thunder rolled and I discovered the stormclouds spanned to the horizon. The storm hindered my flying time, but I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it to pass, either. In fact, this was an ample opportunity. I’d already flown a great distance and Ponyville shouldn’t be that much further away. If I moved fast enough, this storm would provide the perfect cover for when I got there. I could only hope it persisted long into the night, but time was of the essence. There was still a lot of ground to cover by hoof.

I worked my way out of the tree and dropped to the forest floor. I only paused to gather myself, but a nagging sense made me linger. While not entirely silent, the forest was eerily quiet. Maybe all the animals were sheltering from the storm? I glanced around but saw nothing outstanding. Admittedly, I didn’t know what was normal for a forest, and my nerves were probably just getting the better of me. I threw my cloak’s hood up and trudged deeper into the woods.

About twenty minutes later, I heard it. An abrasive noise, like a stick being dragged in the dirt. I almost couldn’t hear it over sounds I was making myself, brushing through foliage and underbrush. But it definitely wasn’t my doing. I doubted it was a pony, but it was behind me, ever-present. Following me.

I stopped walking and the noise immediately stopped as well. I stood still, letting the winds and thunder roll across the forest, and with only their exception, everything else was silent.

As if fate were waiting for the perfect moment, lightning cracked over my head right then. I spared the sky a glance, the canopy leaves like splotches over the flashes of light, giving it all the appearance of a fractured window. I didn’t realize how dark it’d become, and I couldn’t tell if that was because the sun had set or not. Then the rain began to fall, steadily rising over the stormy ambience until the droplets starting leaking through the cracks and fell down on top of me. The winds were kicking up, too. Whatever had been following me, it was growing increasingly difficult for me to hear if it started moving again. Branches swayed and leaves rustled. But I couldn’t stay here; I had to keep going.

I took two steps forward when the bush beside me exploded. Needles dug into my hoof and I might’ve yelled in trying to pull it back, only for it to be yanked in the opposite direction. It was all so sudden, I couldn’t think, I lost my footing, and my wings instinctively expanded to catch my fall. My head jerked to the side, just in time to watch a bunch of my feathers be torn from their roots.

I knew I screamed then. Pain shot up into my chest and strangled my lungs, and my heart just about exploded as a surge of adrenaline pushed it all back. Everything was pushed open; my lungs, my throat, my eyes. I saw where my hoof was being swallowed by some dark maw, and I reacted.

I threw my weight into my attacker and we both stumbled. I collided with what seemed like a thick bush, but I was able to tear my hoof away from its grip. My horn flared, basking my surroundings in blue light, and a rugged brown took up the space in front of me. Two narrow, yellow eyes glared back at me, sitting atop a snout of wood and sharpened canines.

It snapped at me and I threw my other hoof into its face. It hurt, but I didn’t care because the timberwolf did, and it stumbled back another step. I immediately withdrew my sabre, its glowering blade extended to full length, and I slashed upwards. The creature crackled and its shoulder completely disconnected from its body, the ends sizzling bright with raw embers. It staggered and I attacked again, this time slicing it cleanly in half just below the neck.

Thunder roared, and I was tackled from the side by another. It seemed to embrace me, digging its claws into the thick back of my cloak and biting down on my forehoof. We bounced into the wetting dirt and I almost lost control of my sabre, but the adrenaline kept me focused, and once we landed I cut the timberwolf in two from head to tail. I shoved its body off my chest and found another had me by the tail. I slashed at it, but only managed to lob off a solid chunk of my tail itself. No matter. I had enough of these accursed woods.

I rolled onto my hooves—splinters still embedded in my legs—and ran. My battered wing clung to my side, causing me to twitch whenever an outreaching branch or vine brushed against it. My sabre sheathed and my magic dimmed. The storm above continued to grow in intensity, the rain fell heavily, the dirt turned to mud, and sometime later I appeared beyond the treeline. I made several long strides before turning around, and fortunately nothing was staring back. However, I doubted it would stay that way.

But I just couldn’t go on like this. My forehooves felt like they burst into flame by how much they hurt, and I collapsed to my side—my bad side, as fate would have it—and squeaked at the pain. About two dozen shards of wood the size of nails stuck out of my hooves, oozing blood. I wasted no time pulling them out and tending to my wounds. I ripped apart a length of my tunic and wrapped my hooves in it, bandaging them as best I could. At least that’d stop the bleeding, and the rain would wash the blood away besides.

My wing wasn’t worth worrying about; it just hurt and I was going to have to deal with it. My tail, however... I should’ve cut that thing a while ago. It was a complete lack of foresight on my part to keep it so long for this journey. At least it was short now. But my mane draped like a curtain, frayed and limp with water and dirt, nearly down to the grassy floor. Without a second thought, I pulled out my sabre and hacked half of it away.

A large web of lightning broke out across the sky, illuminating the unobstructed ground like it was day for an instant. It was all I needed to see a pair of yellow eyes hidden inside the forest.

I held out the sabre and brought myself to my hooves. Rainwater sizzled off its red, illustrious blade, and I splayed my wings towards the sky—even the damaged one. They were both ragged, anyways, and would need a thorough cleaning before I could even think of flying. But I wasn’t going to run this time. My cloak flapped in the wind as I stared down that pair of eyes, and the several more that gradually appeared beside them. There must’ve been at least half a dozen of the things, hiding in the safety of their forest.

“Well?!” I spat at them. The storm above droned over me. “You want a fight? Come and fight! I’ll turn you all into kindling!”

A few of them blinked, but otherwise all the timberwolves were unmoved. More lightning flashed.

“What are you waiting for?!” I yelled at them, and took a step forward.

That spooked them, because the next second they all disappeared. I stamped a hoof in the mud and yelled again, but even I didn’t understand what I was saying then. I just yelled. I’d been doing that a lot lately, now that I thought about it. I wondered why, but in the end I didn’t care. I just had to get the anger out somehow. If those timberwolves hadn’t backed down, I surely would’ve slaughtered them. I almost wanted to do so even now.

“Lousy things,” I muttered, and turned to the side. The treeline led into the distance, and beyond a distant hill I could see a pollution of lights in the dark. Ponyville. I gathered myself and made haste for it.